Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 72
Khilafat Centenary - in October 1907, God Almighty revealed to ·e ou the glad tidings of an affable son who will be in the image of Mubarak Ahmad. Tadhkira 4th Edition, p 735: From Badr and Al - Hakam, October 31, 1907 Then on November 6-7, 1907 he received the revelatio n: I give you the glad tidings of a pure and pious son. 0 my God! Grant me pure and pious children. I give you glad tidings of a son whose name is Yahya. Tadhkira 4th Edition, p 740, 741: From Badr, and Al-Hakam, November 10, 1907 Thus, it is a no coincidence that it was only Hadhrat Mirza Nasirra amongst all the grandchildren whose upbringing and moral training was done by Hadhrat Ammajan (wife of the Promised Messiah as ) as if he were her own son. Basharat-e-Rabbaniyya, Maulana Jalaluddin Shams, p23 Hadhrat Musleh Mau'ood ra also stated in a letter written to an Ahmadi on September 26, 1909 that God Almighty had told him, "He will give me a son who will be Nasir-e-Deen (helper of the religion) and who will be always ready to serve Islam". Al-Fazl, April 8, 1915 Education Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmadra became a Hafiz on April 17, 1922 at the age of thirteen, when he completed the memorization of the Holy Qur'an. While he was in the process of becoming a Hafiz-e- Qur' an, he recited the Holy Qur'an at the occasion of the Annual Convention, Qadian, on Dec ember 27, 1921. In 1922, during the month of Ramadan, he led Taraveeh Prayers (congregational prayer unique to Ramadan) and completed one full reading of the Holy Qur'an during those prayers. This event was reported in the Muslim Sunrise, USA in which his photo was also published, with the caption reading: "Nasir Ahmad, (about 12 years old), the eldest son of our present leader, is now a Hafiz. He recited the whole Qur'an during the last fasting month to the congregation in the Mosque, reciting a part every evening. The above photo of the promised lad was taken when he was saying his prayers in the Mosque. May Allah bless Nasir and all his relatives. " Muslim Sunrise, July 1922 In July 1929, he obtained the degree of Maulvi Fazil (Religious Scholar) from Punjab University and secured third place in the University. In 1934, he graduated from Government College, Lahore. He was married in August 1934 to Hadhrat Mansoora Begum, daughter of Hadhrat Nawab Muhammad Ali and Hadhrat Nawab Mubaraka Begum. One month after the marriage, he left Qadian for England for higher studies. On November 9, 1938, he came back to Qadian after obtaining his Masters degree in Philosophy from Balliol College, Oxford University. Serving Islam Before Becoming Khalifatul Masih From early childhood, Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad ra had a deep desire to serve Islam, which increased during his youth. While studying in England, he started a magazine to spread the message of Islam, naming it Al-Islam. Soon after his return from his studies in England, he started serving Ahmadiyyat as a devotee. He served first as a teacher and then, from 1939 to 1944, as Principal ofjami'a Ahmadiyya, Qadian. During this period he also served for some time as Headmaster of Talimul Islam High School, Qadian. He later became the first Principal of Ta'limul Islam College, first in Qadian and then in Lahore and Rabwah, serving from May 1944 to November 1965. As Principal of Talimul Islam College, he had many great achievements, which included construction of a beautiful college building in Rabwah and introducing postgraduate classes (M. A. in Arabic and M. Sc. in Physics). Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad ra also served as Sadr Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya from 1939 to 1949. From the year 1949, when Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih rr ra took charge of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya as its President, Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad ra acted as Vice President until November 1954. That same year,